I like Totems because they're a good example of asymmetrical boss design. The Totem has some advantages that the player can have and the player has some advantages that a Totem can never have, so they're hardly "unfair" or "cheap" like some people seem to think - they're *designed* to be possible to beat, of course, and it's not like Game Freak even wants you to get stuck on them.
But yeah, consider the advantages the player has over almost every fight in the game:
- a full team
- access to Z-Moves
- access to held items
- more than zero to two items
Now consider what Totems bring to the table:
- a free stat boost, generally a pretty tame one for the first several
- the ability to make the fight 2v1, which allows for a degree of team synergy not even possible in double battles since the player can't double-target one Pokémon
- an additional disadvantage to counterbalance this: the Totem acts as a "king" in the sense that KOing it cuts off any remaining allies and effectively wins the fight, making it possible to face only one enemy and common to face only two enemies instead of all three
It's a perfectly balanced and fair system, and I think the mere fact that this is the *first time* Game Freak has given the AI unusual advantages to counteract the many advantages the player has always had over it is *definitely* worthy of praise.
And hey, if it's too difficult for new players, that's basically what Z-Moves are for.
Without using those, Totems are still harder than the vast majority of Gym Leaders (I'm not saying USUM are *hard* games, but hard*er* than the rest? absolutely), but if you're an inexperienced and new player who's unfamiliar with the series, Z-Moves are a way to accommodate and keep it accessible. I feel that they'd be better games without presenting what's effectively a "skip battle" button for in-game purposes as something that's fair to use, but that's not inherent to Totems, and the Totems themselves are a fantastic step in the right direction.
